Logan Sargeant talks F1, the Miami Dolphins, and the one thing he wants fans to know

SB Nation talked with Williams F1 driver Logan Sargeant ahead of Saudi Arabian GP

It is Wednesday afternoon in Jeddah, just days before the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the second race of the 2024 Formula 1 season. And on this afternoon Logan Sargeant, the second-year driver, has one thing on his mind.

His beloved Miami Dolphins.

“Well, the 2023-24 season was an exciting season for the most part,” Sargeant told SB Nation in an exclusive interview. “Obviously, I feel like we’re still missing something. I don’t know exactly what that is. I think there’s a lot of hope and a great foundation of the team. But we’re still missing those last couple pieces. But it’s definitely a big offseason.”

A major order of business for the Dolphins? A contract extension for quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

“I would be very surprised if Tua didn’t get his contract extension. So I expect that to happen and then hopefully a good pick up or two in the draft and put ourselves on a good route next season,” added Sargeant. “But who knows it’s so competitive. So even if you are the best team half the time you don’t win. It’s … it’s tough.”

Of course, Sargeant has more on his mind this Wednesday than humoring a sportswriter who wanted to sneak in an NFL question. After all, he has the second race of a grueling schedule ahead of him this weekend, the challenging Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

But in a sport filled with fascinating personalities, Sargeant is climbing up that list in a hurry. The sole American driver on the grid, Sargeant became the first American driver to score a point in F1 last season since the legendary Michael Andretti back in the 2013 Italian Grand Prix. Now in his second season, Sargeant has a year of experience under his belt, experience that will serve him well in his second F1 campaign.

“I think generally just having that reference definitely helps,” said Sargeant about having a year under his belt. “You know, Bahrain is always one of those. We have three days of testing, we go into a race and everyone’s very well prepared for it. So it’s a little bit different. But yeah, I think time will tell but from my perspective, I think having that understanding and reference, and knowing more what to expect going into a weekend, is definitely gonna help.

“Again, there’s a million variables and things that are thrown at you every weekend, every weekend is a new weekend and you’re, you’re adapting and things constantly. So that, that never changes.

“But, once you have a bit more, bit more experience, you can adapt to those things quicker.”

Adapting to the variables that pop up over the course of an F1 season will be critical for Sargeant. The point he scored in last year’s United States Grand Prix was the one point he scored on the year, a season which saw Williams finish a surprising P7 in the Constructors’ Championship. But Team Principal James Vowles is expecting bigger things from Sargeant in the driver’s second season, starting with more consistency each week.

When the team launched the FW46, their challenger for the 2024 season, in New York City at the start of February Vowles promised a more “confident” Sargeant this season, due in part to the changes the driver made to his training regime over the off-season. That confidence has been on display through the early going, and Sargeant addressed this training during our chat on Wednesday.

In his mind, the physical training he put in this off-season has even improved his mental frame of mind heading into the year.

“It’s a bit of a it’s a bit of a complex question,” said Sargeant when asked about his mental preparation.

“I think a lot of your mental emotional preparation also comes through physical preparation, knowing you’ve put in all the work that obviously puts your mind at ease and you know that you’re ready and prepared for the weekend, and then you could approach it differently. Because you know the work’s been done, you have the understanding, and then it’s about being a bit more consistent throughout the year,” added Sargeant. “And that means having a little bit more of a reasonable approach and during the weekend and building up a bit nicer. So I think those are the main things, but I think they’re all very connected.

“I think if you do your physical preparation, right, that will make a big difference on your mental preparation as well.”

Photo by Kym Illman/Getty Images

Sargeant’s second season got off to a tough start in last Saturday’s Bahrain Grand Prix. On Lap 10 his FWQ46 suffered an electrical issue, which saw him slide off the track, costing him a ton of time. He was able to rejoin the fight and finish the race, but the failure saw him come across the line in P20.

Still, the days of testing the FW46 in Bahrain ahead of the official start to the season, coupled with the hours of work done in practice sessions before the Bahrain Grand Prix, have Sargeant taking a very positive view going into the second race of the year.

“I think the base understanding of the car and the base foundation of the car is definitely a lot better. I think it’s definitely a better base to work from moving forward,” said Sargeant when asked about the Bahrain Grand Prix. “But I think generally we did have a lot of issues which definitely held us back. I think there was more potential than what we got out of it. But ultimately we just need to clean those things up moving forward. Better to happen in the first race than later down the line.

“So hopefully we got those things out of the way we can get them fixed.”

He also viewed the first race week of the season as a solid start to the year.

“And from a personal point of view, it wasn’t a bad first week and I wasn’t far from where I wanna be and, just gonna start getting it more together as a team,” added Sargeant.

Every team has now put in a ton of work on their challengers for the 2024 campaign, including Williams. Last season, the FW45 was a strong car, but it had its limitations. As the team noted when they launched the FW46 in New York City, everyone knew where Williams would be strong a season ago. Tracks with a lot of straights, such as Monza and Las Vegas, suited their 2023 challenger incredibly well.

And then there were some circuits where everyone — Williams included — knew they were going to struggle.

While we are still in the early days of the 2024 F1 season, Sargeant believes they have made some big strides with this year’s challenger.

“I don’t think we know for sure yet,” said Sargeant when asked about the FW46. “I think we’ve made a step in the right direction. But if you still look at top speeds, we’re still, we’re still definitely quick. So even though we’ve made a stronger car, I think everyone’s also made a step forward and we’re still a bit quick down the straights. I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing.

“It just depends on efficiency and, I think with the step we’ve made, we’re definitely heading in the right direction, to be more consistent over the course of a season. But how much is yet to be determined. I don’t think we’re completely sure on that yet.”

Sargeant also added another line to his resume this season.

Podcast host.

Williams introduced “Team Torque” last week, a podcast hosted by Sargeant and teammate Alexander Albon. The first episode debuted to rave reviews from fans, and the second episode will drop later this week featuring their first guest, Williams F1 Academy driver Lia Block.

In that first episode, Sargeant made it clear who he wanted as a dream guest.

Tom Brady.

Is that something they could swing?

“I mean, we might, who knows?”

Sargeant then expanded on what it was like getting behind the microphone.

“But honestly, I mean, me and Alex are definitely shaky hosts. It’s not been super smooth. But it’s fun, honestly. I mean, kind of somewhere we can just talk about a bit of racing but also a lot of non-racing related things, which is nice,” added Sargeant. “But yeah, it’s more for a cool bit of content for the team and fans of me and Alex and the team. So, it’s quite nice just to have a platform where we don’t have to, you know, be so focused on racing all the time.”

But the focus always comes back to racing.

Having solicited some questions from the great people on F1 Threads, I then asked Sargeant a question sent in by the fine folks at the “Dirty Side of the Track” podcast. They wanted to know what was the one thing Sargeant wished outside observers knew about how hard it is to even complete a lap as an F1 driver.

The focus in Sargeant’s response?

Track limits.

“Yeah, the ones that drive me crazy are the, ‘[j]ust keep it on [the track]’ like when we’re talking about track limits,” said Sargeant. “And then you look at Bahrain and first through 20th in Q1 is covered by eight tenths.

“Especially when you’re on the back end of that [lap], trying to make it through Q1 and you’re always on the cusp. Imagine, you know, leaving a bit of time on the table can shuffle you down two or three positions if you’re too safe and then when you add the tires overheating through the lap, the wind gusting and changing throughout the lap. Even just having a slight slipstream from the car had completely changes the corner,” added Sargeant. “You know, I think so much more goes into completing a lot than people realize and also being able to keep it within the white lines and still getting the most out of it. It’s a lot more complex than just, you know, ‘keep it within the white lines.’

“There’s, there’s so many variables and, I think people forget that a lot.”

Another reader-submitted question came in from our friends at “The Midfield Pod,” who wanted to know what tracks Sargeant was looking forward to getting another crack at.

He will get a chance at one of those this weekend.

“A lot for sure. Obviously here in Jeddah. It’s a great track but I’d be lying if we said it wasn’t dangerous. But it’s one of those that, you know, the adrenaline gets going and it’s a fun track, especially when you do good laps,” said Sargeant. “I think the next two after this as well, being able to go back to Melbourne and Suzuka, places where I feel like we definitely had a chance to be better and had good potential last year. So go back and, and you know, finish those off.

“And then yeah, of course, just going forward, just wanna wanna be better than last year.”

The discussion concluded with his thoughts on this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Jeddah Corniche Circuit is one of the tougher challenges on the entire F1 calendar, a heart-pounding adrenaline rush covering over six kilometers, making it one of the longest on the F1 schedule. Add in 27 twisty turns, and average speeds approaching what we see at Monza — the “Temple of Speed” — and you have quite the challenge ahead.

Despite all that, Sargeant believes he is entering this weekend on the front foot, and is confident in a good result.

“I had a really strong weekend here last year. It didn’t go great because I got track limits in qualifying when probably didn’t deserve it. But anyways, it happened. But I think that sets me up quite nicely for this week and I think what I did last year in terms of approach was really good. I didn’t ask for too much, particularly on the FP1/FP2 day. And then really had to build my weekend up through those into FP3,” said Sargeant.

“And then by the time qualifying came around, I felt really really good. So I think it’s, it’s really a similar approach going into it this week and it’s a track that if you push too hard, too quick, it’ll bite back quickly. So just having a bit of a measured approach and, nothing really matters until run one of qualifying.

“So, just a nice build up and pick up where I left off last year, and I think we have a great chance to have a good weekend.”